Just surrendered my 'weapons'.....

[channel12]

I remember the answer to knife crime in 1957 was the ban on flick knives, the Teddy Boy's weapon of choice. Must have worked as you don't hear about Teddy Boy violence these days.

[Sim G]

It was 1953 and the Prevention of Crime Act. This is the piece of legislation that brought to an end, British subjects having the option of arming themselves for defence. And it was Cypriot and Turkish gangs in London who were slicing each other up with straight razors. And this was the result of “something must be done”...

And here we are almost 70 years later and the situation hasn’t changed, to all intents and purposes. In London today we still have gangs, albeit of a different ethnicity and no longer Cypriot/Turkish, but, they’re still slicing each other up with boring irregularity.

We are scourged with the ethos of blaming an item for wrong doing, rather than the ill will of the doer...

[Blackstuff]

A sordid piece of legislation presided over by none other than Winston Churchill

[Sim G]

Yep, it was! Churchill was a very complex man, as liberal as they come and sometimes more authoritarian than the worst! In this context, the irony is that he believed in personal arms. He is once quoted that “every British household should have adequate insurance and a sturdy revolver!”

However, I’ve also heard it argued that the then Home Secretary, a snivelling little ex-lawyer, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe was the push behind it as his job was on the line because he could not bring the problem under control!

I once had the transcripts from Hansard of the debates around this legislation and they were very enlightening leading to a narrow passing. The House of Lords debates were even more lively!

However, the perceived risk only added to the fuel. Not too dissimilar to the Offensive Weapons Act today!!! Evidently, none of the current law makers are students of history...

[bradaz11]

i really think you are making a rod for your own back with this, passing off normal knives with weak backsprings / flippers as gravity knives can help them set a precedent. these are not what gravity knives are. they are also certainly not designed as such, but like with most things, the more people shout and when they collect the reports etc, it's easier for this definition to then be expanded.

[walesdave]

i really think you are making a rod for your own back with this, passing off normal knives with weak backsprings / flippers as gravity knives can help them set a precedent. these are not what gravity knives are. they are also certainly not designed as such, but like with most things, the more people shout and when they collect the reports etc, it's easier for this definition to then be expanded.

I get what you're saying, but HMRC (and probably the police) have already made that jump.

From what I've read on some knife forums HMRC class any folder which can be opened with a 'flick of the wrist' as a gravity knife, even where it is obviously just due to having a loose pivot screw that needs a bit of a tighten; knife gets confiscated, owner/ importer gets a letter saying if you want to challenge us in court we'll saddle you with our massive legal costs when you lose.

Heinnie Haynes don't sell flippers any more due to the risk of having an entire shipment seized at customs as 'gravity knives' or similar.

The latest legislation and guidance surprised me in that it explicitly states thumb stud opening / other one handed manually opening methods are not prohibited / included in the new QWB 2019 so some positive news for the future - until they decide to change it again

[The Event]

I did an FOI request to find out just what got handed in and how much was paid out.
I think there may be a few items that didn't get handed in.

[bradaz11]

anyone else feel that 1000 lever releases is too round of a number?

[Pippin89]

£3.8 million out of our pockets.... and devastation done to the disabled shooting community. Not to mention everyone else who legally owned one.

[RDC]

The zombie knife compensation clearly worked. It completely stopped the machete fight in Morecambe a couple of days ago where one had a machete-length zombie knife and the other a bog standard machete....